NFL Playoffs: Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning — 5 Stats To Consider

It has become one of the most significant and competitive feuds in the NFL today. Sunday’s AFC Championship game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots will mark the seventeenth time that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have lead their respective teams against each other — the fifth time that they’ve met in the NFL Playoffs. Since there are rumors that this could be Peyton Manning’s last NFL Playoff appearance, the storied rivalry could end today.

As the Broncos and Patriots prepare for the last game before one of them moves on to Super Bowl 50, here are 5 stats to consider about the Brady/Manning rivalry.

No other pair of NFL quarterbacks playing today have faced each other as many times as Tom and Peyton.Regular season and post-season combined, this will be their seventeenth match-up. Brady has a huge advantage in the rivalry, currently having won 11 of their 16 games. The only quarterback duo to face each other more times was Dan Marino and Jim Kelly who had 21 career games against each other — they were, however, in the same division for the length of their careers.

No other pair of NFL quarterbacks have faced each other as many times in the NFL Playoffs. Assuming neither of them somehow injure themselves before today’s game, they will be the first quarterback duo to play against each other in the post-season a total of five times (they are currently tied at four with Terry Bradshaw/Ken Stabler, Steve Young/Brett Favre, and Tom Brady/Joe Flacco). They have split the four games 2-2, so today’s game could very possibly decide who ultimately wins the NFL Playoff rivalry between the two.

Peyton Manning is 12-13 in the NFL Playoffs, while Tom Brady is 22-8. Between the two, Brady and Manning have 55 NFL Playoff starts before Sunday’s match-up, as confirmed by Pro Football Reference. Brady clearly has the advantage in this stat in every way. Despite having played five more playoff games than Manning, Brady has still lost five fewer post-season games. While Manning could up his playoff record win percentage to 50 with a win today, a loss would leave Brady as winning more than 70 percent of his own.

Tom Brady is 6-3 in AFC Championship games while Peyton Manning is 3-1. Head-to-head, the AFC Championship has come down to Tom and Peyton three times before, with Peyton Manning having a 2-1 advantage and having won the last two encounters.

It’s been just more than 11 years since Tom Brady defeated Peyton Manning in the NFL Playoffs. As Fox Sports pointed out, it was January 16, 2005, when the Patriots defeated the Broncos as New England hosted Denver in the Divisional Round.

Tom Brady is on the second longest NFL Playoff winning streak of his career. Having won all four of their playoff games just a year ago, the last time Brady lost a playoff game was to Manning in 2014. Even if Brady wins today and goes on to win the Super Bowl, he’ll have to win every post-season game next season (and then some) to catch his personal record of 10 consecutive Playoff wins between 2002 and 2006. Manning’s longest streak remains four, all of which came during the 2007 NFL Playoffs.

Today’s AFC Championship game between Tom Brady’s New England Patriots and Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos can be seen on CBS with a kick-off scheduled for 3:05 PM EST.